Individual Exchange Program In India, Family Stay

Who else other than a Indo-European enthusiasts to create REAL Exchange Programs in India!

Project profile

Energy Required :

Group Strength: Individual participantAge: 7 to 20 years old.Flight: Zurich → India → ZurichGetting around: Metro, bus, boat, tram, autorickshaw, cycle rickshaw, car, bicycle, walking (as per the city)Accommodation: With an Indian family from the Indian schoolFood: Breakfast and dinner at the Indian family's home, lunch in the Indian schoolLocal responsible: Outside the school: The Indian parents. While in the Indian school: A person from the Indian hosting school (Teacher, principal...). The Milna team members present in India in case of emergency.

The days you will spend in India will mark you deeply in the positive way. Our school exchange with India will allow you to visit the main historic places and monuments of the Indian capital. But above all, you will discover the daily life of an Indian family who will welcome and pamper you throughout the duration of the exchange. In addition to the arms wide open welcoming of the Indian school allowing you to be involved in several activities, it will take a day to see and touch the Taj Mahal!

Our Strengths:

Accommodation with motivated Indian family , seriously selected, they are all from the Indian school that welcomes you

Improve your English by daily practice

Introduction to Hindi or other regional language

Participation to many activities in school and visit many places in the afternoon and on weekends

Even if your Indian school is not around Agra, the group has the possibility to add a visit to the Taj Mahal or any where else.

Safety:

We follow the security instructions strictly, especially when outdoors;

We follow the French law protecting the youth while organizing a travel;

A Milna European person is with the group during the entire Exchange, who’s reachable at all times.

Responsible traveler:

We use the public transportation and limit the group detritus to reduce the impact of the carbon footprint caused by this project.

The participants will be involved to a local cause and support it the way they can. For example: Bringing spectacles to visually impaired needy, help in a social canteen, creating games for village children...

This is an example of a typical week of an individual exchange program, depending on the city where you will be.

Wherever you will go, you will do the local activities with your Indian family (sea, countryside, mountain, city...), as a location, we usually select a large city (Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai...). However, if you have location preferences, we will always take it into consideration.

Sunday: Flight from Zurich to India. Your host family with the Milna person will be waiting for you at New Delhi airport. Transfer to the city of your Indian family. Presentation of the house, the family members that you know already via the several emails/phones exchanges you had with them since weeks. Dinner and night in the house of your Indian family.

Monday: You are the star today, as you will attract the attention of the school students. You will have to answers to lot of questions and "Hellos!". You will be welcomed by the principal who will show you the school. Then you will go with your partner to assist to the classes. After that, you will have your lunch at the canteen or provided by the Indian family. No later than 14:00, the school will be over, back to your Indian family via school bus, the afternoon will be used to discover your neighborhood with your partner. Evening and dinner with the family.

Tuesday: After a breakfast with your Indian family, you will head to school to assist to the classes. Same as Monday, but today, everyone in the school knows your name and from which city you come from. You will be going to several classrooms as you will be giving a presentation of your country in a Geography class or being the center of interest in an English class where you will need to answers to all the questions the Indian students will have about you and your country. This time, you will be much more comfortable and can find your classrooms, canteen, toilets... without any help, you are almost a real student in the Indian school!

Wednesday: You will join a cooking class. Yes! In Indian schools, they also teach how to cook. You will be able to surprise your parents when you go back with very easy recipes. You will notice that in India, nobody will ignore you, everyone is friendly and want to exchange few words with you, share his meal with you, invite you to join a cricket match... The practice of English is daily and to learn a local language: Hindi, Marathi, Tamil... just ask and you will have the help of everyone (Teachers, students, family...). Most Indian schools finish before 14:00, so it's a great advantage, as all the afternoons will be a time you can spend with your host family and partner. You will be part of the Indian family program.

Even if it is an individual exchange program, remember that you are not left alone with your Indian family, Milna will check several times if all is fine with you and if needed, a Milna person will not hesitate to meet you during your stay.

Thursday: Indians have dance and music in their blood, so you will be able to involve your self in dance and music classes in your Indian school and after that some more brain involvement where you can compare your knowledge in mathematics, physics or biology with other students. The afternoon, you might visit with your family a Sikh temple and see how everyone is involved with one goal in mind: Help each other.the opportunity to have a deep look and understanding

Friday: Everyone in the school is exited when the last bell will ring, it means the end of the school for this week. If you know some dance/song or want to play an instrument and show your talent to all the school, this is your celebrity moment and your chance to be noticed! If this is your last Friday, you will be saying bye bye to all your new friends and probably you will cry a little or a lot knowing that you might not meet them soon ;-(

Saturday: Youpi! Today is Saturday and the Indian family is fully available to take you discover the area and do shopping (As we know, you love shopping). Everyone has a car and they will not hesitate drivings hours to show you nice things around.
As you know, everything in India will be a discovery for you. The architecture, the people, the food, the flavors, the weather... will keep your curiosity at its maximum.

Sunday: Sunday in India is a relaxed day. Your Indian partner might go with his friends for a cricket match, a family celebration...). The participant will be more than welcome. Sunday also is the day of Bollywood movies, going to a temple, assisting to a wedding... It's where you can feel the real authentic India with your Indian family!
If this is your last day, according to your flight timing, you will be heading to the airport with your Indian family/Indian teacher and the Milna person. They will help you to check in. The participant will be constantly in touch.
If this is not your last day, it means that you have another week full of excitement waiting for you!

Possible activities in the Indian school: Participating to classes (English, Hindi, Sport, Arts, cooking...), teaching your own language to the Indian students, making presentation of your country, its culture, festivals, traditions..., having practical language classes as per the participant level, preparing a show you want to perform at the end of your stay...

Possible activities with the India family: In India, most schools will close before 14:00, If the Indian family members (Father and mother) work, it means that they will come back home after 16:00. But an Indian family is often a joined family where you have cousins, uncles, grand parents living in the same house or very closed by. So you will always have someone who will have time to take you out. Indians love going out, specially when they have guests like you. You will be pampered from the moment you open up and show a desire to involve in the daily family life.

(This is an example of program and given just for information, the program will depend on the Indian family, their availability, the location of the school, the school calendar, flight and local transportation timing. The program will be clearer when the Indian school and Indian family have selected the participant.)

Since the school holidays in India are not all the same, an exchange program is possible throughout the year except few weeks in March and May due to exams and holidays. Check with us if your dates are suitable or not..

Duration of 7 to 15 days according to your possibilities, the price is the same irrespective of the duration between 7 to 15 days. (Want a different duration?Contact us)

(*) The prices mentioned above are subject to availability. The official rates are in Euros. The rate of exchange used for calculating cost in CHF is subject to change and the final rate applied will be at the actual time of order on our "Shop" section. The final amount in CHF will be displayed by selecting CHF as currency.

In India, no vaccination is mandatory, however, feel free to check the vaccination you already have with your doctor.

A member of Milna is present with the traveling group during the entire length of the stay. He/ She will ensure the security and safety of the group.

In case of an emergency, the traveler will be taken into care by the nearest hospital. If needed, he will be repatriated in the best conditions.

Individual Exchange Program In India, Family Stay

Individual Exchange Program In India, Family Stay

What is an Exchange program and what happens in an Exchange program?

An Exchange program is an opportunity for students to experience the life in another country while studying, traveling, learning and sharing their knowledge with others. The participant attends school in the morning where he/she does different academic and extra-curricular activities. In the afternoon, he/she visits the local city and its famous attractions and some organizations. In the evening each student spends time with his/her host family. This continues with a different schedule each day. The weekend is spent with the host family according to the plans of each student’s respective host family. An Exchange program happens for 1 to 3 weeks but we feel 2 weeks is an ideal duration for school students.

How does the payment deadline work?

The principle is simple: The earliest you pay to book your project, more you will save. By paying us in advance, we can book the accommodation, transportation etc in advance.

We get them for a competitive price so we make you benefit from this saving, hence the different deadlines.

Let's say you select the 90 days' deadline, it means, that 100% of the payment needs to reach us no later than 90 days before the departure. If you have already paid 10% while booking, the remaining payment will be 90% to send us no later than 90 days before the departure. If your payment is not reaching us before the 90 days' deadline, then the 60 days' deadline amount will apply. (Check our "Shop" section to know the exact amount). Please note that if today is the 91st day before the departure and you want the 90 days' deadline, you have to send us 100% of the amount to respect the deadline and avail the 90 days special offer.

At which destination will the project take place?

The Exchange Program can happen anywhere in the country. If your school has any particular preferred area, then it has to be requested for at the time of enrollment and we'll do our best to find a school in that area matching your preferences.

What do we do about the visas?

Milna will facilitate the visa formalities of the participants and the teachers. Our team will provide you the list of required documents for the visa. Please make sure that all the documents in the list are ready within the duration communicated to you.

What about health insurance?

The health insurance is not always compulsory to obtain a visa. Since many participants might already have an insurance covering them yearly, each participant is required to check if he/she is already covered. If not covered, Milna recommends the participant to have one covering him during the project.

What happens when the participant arrives in the host country and how will I know if she/he has arrived?

Milna maintains a 'Before/During/After the project' blog in which we mention the itinerary and the calendar of the students. During the project we put our best efforts to update the parents about each activity of students through articles, pictures and videos on our blog. The blog’s name would be communicated to all the students and their families.

Where will the participant live?

Each student will be provided one family according to the student’s age and gender. For ex: A 12-years-old male participant lives in a family of 12-years-old boy. A female participant is also placed in a family of a girl of the same age. All efforts are put in order to put the students in a family according to their age and gender.

Will the participant be alone or with his/her friend, at the family's home?

Yes, each student lives alone with one family. We can put two participants together in one family under 3 conditions: 1-Both participants have asked to be with each other at the time of enrollment, 2-The Indian family is willing to welcome two participants, We would like to mention that it is for the benefit of the project and the participant, that each student lives alone with a family, as two participants in one family will just communicate with each other instead of conversing and sharing their knowledge with their correspondent student and its family.

Who will take care of the participant?

In most cases the language teacher of the participant shall accompany the group. In other cases if the language teacher cannot go, then any other teacher chosen by your participant's school shall go along with one Milna person. Our Milna person knows the country of the project and its culture very well and stays with the group during the entire project. The participant can contact the teacher and the Milna person for any assistance at any time.

Should the participant bring a gift for the host family and siblings?

Yes, the host family will be happy to receive something from the participant's country as a gift. It is not necessary to buy an expensive one. Anything representing your country will do. Otherwise, simply you may ask the host family.

Do I have to host my partner if he/she comes to my country?

A real exchange program is supposed to be like that. However, if you can't host your partner during his/her possible visit to your country with his/her school, we will have no problem with that. We will always be able to get him/her a new partner.

Does the family speak English?

Yes, the family welcoming the participant speaks English. English is the main language used to teach all the subjects. A great opportunity to improve your English by practicing it daily.

Who will be the host family? Please send full details about the host family.

The host family will be the parents of the student studying in the school who hosts/invites the group. All the host families are selected by the welcoming school in collaboration with Milna. The full details of the participant’s respective host family will be given to you, before the departure.

How much pocket money should the participant carry?

For sake of the participant's private expenditure (shopping etc.), you can give some pocket money, it all depends on what the participant would like to buy. In general, we believe that 15 Euros per day is largely enough to fulfill the normal shopping desires.